For many people (including members of this blog team), remembering their physics lessons at school is not a very fond memory. Physics, often coupled with math, all too often seems very abstract. On a polar expedition, however, the physicists are a far cry from the stereotypical image of a ... [Read more]

We have now started our seventh ice station and thought it is about time to summarize the amount of samples that were collected within the past few weeks during our TRANSSIZ cruise. Because we are scientists, we approached this summary quantitatively.
In order to study the sea-ice habitat, ... [Read more]

Valérie Gros and Roland Sarda-Esteve from the Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE) in Paris have experience measuring trace gases in the ocean, but are new to working with sea ice. In addition to the gear they packed to work on ice floes, they brought their own air because ... [Read more]

We have been sailing for a week now, and the unpacking is completed! The labs and working spaces have been more challenging to set up than usual with so many different groups and disciplines on board. Not unlike an orchestra composed of musicians who are excellent at their instruments but have never ... [Read more]